Means for forming side-cut brick



.i'H. WINTER. MEANS FOR FORMING SIDE CUT BRICK. APPLICATION FILED NOV.3, I921.

fi45 Patented Nov. 28 22..

5 SHEETS-SHE H. WINTER.

MEANS FOR FORMING SIDE/CUT BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1921. 1,436,?45. Psptented Nov. 28, 1922.,

5 SHEETS'SHEET 2.

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' MEANS FOR FORMING SIDE CUT B'RICK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1921.

1-,4 =36,745 Patented Nov. 28,1922.

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H. WINTER.

MEANS FOR FORMING SIDE CUT BRICK..

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4- 1 136,745. Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

H. WINTER.

MEANS FOR FORMING SIDE CUT BRICK.

APPLICATION HLED NOV. 3, I921.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

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5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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career MEANS FOR FOBTJLING SIDE-CUT BRICK.

Application'filed November 3, 1921.

To all whom itma concern.

Be it known that I, l innY l i IN'rnR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State ofIllinois, have invented anew and useful Means for Forming SideCut Brick,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates particularly to wirecut brick of the type known asside-cut brick, \vhich are produced froina continuously moving column ofclay. Prime pur poses of the invention are: to produce, at oneoperation, without repressing, side-cut brick having roundedlongitudinal edges; and to produce, at the same operation, use ful orornamental configurations on one face of the brick, as will hehereinafter described.

Other purposes of the invention are: to provide in conjunction with forforming and propelling the clay colt nn. and in conjunction with wiresfor cutting side-cut brick from the clay column, formers adapted to formthe longitudinal edges of the brick contemporaneously with the cuttingof the brick; to provide formers adapted to configure one face of eachbrick contempora neously with the cutting of the bri and to provideimproved details of construction.

With these ends in. view my invention. con sists of the brick, as anarticle. of inanufaw ture, and in the new and useful means for producingthe brick without repressing, all of which will now be fully describedand will be finally recited in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings to which referenceis hereby made, in which:

Figure tie a side elevation of a brick made in accordance with myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the same brick.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the brick on the line 3. 3. of Fig.2.

Fig. i is an elevation of a fragment of a wall, showing the brick laidin the wall.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a machine of preferred construction.usable for cutting and forming the brick. In this view I have shown onlysuch parts of the brick-n'iachine as are necessary to illustrate thecutter mechanism and its mode of operation.

Fig. 6 is a top plan of the same machine.

Fig. '7 is an end view of the cutter mechanism of the same machine.

F ig. 8 is an enlarged vertical transverse Serial No. 512,549.

section through the same machine on the line 8. of dig. 5.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged top plan of a frag ment of the upper platen.

Fig. 10 is a vertical transverse section through the upper platen on theline 10. 10. of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged vertical section through three members of theupper platen, taken on the line 11. ll. of Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of one clearance or former plate.

The same reference numerals designate the same parts in all the views. 7

Experience shows that the roughness of the sides of wire cut brick isadvantageous, especially when the brick are used for street paving,because the cement or other filler used in the joints sets more firmlyon and more securely holds the brick than is possible with smoothersurfaced brick. In practice it has been found that the longitudinaledges of wire cut brick are thin and sharp and likely to injure thehands of persons handlinp; them, and furthermore are likely to bechipped or broken during the testing of the brick, which is usually doneby placing a number of brick in a rattler and rotatin it to tumble thebrick in contact With each other, often resulting in considerable lossbyreason of chipping or breaking of the brick. To overcome theseobjections, the practice, prior to my invention, has been to repress thebrick, but the operation of repressing necessitates a costly handling ofthe brick and furthermore tends to laminate and injure the texture ofthe brick, so that for some purposes. especially street paving, therepressed brick is not as strong and de pendable as side-cut brick whichhave not been repressed. In view of the conditions stated, I havedevised and produced Wire cut brick having the advantageous rough sidesand rounded and smoothed edges, and have accomplished this resultwithout disturbing or impairing the original texture of the brick andwithout the costly rehandling' and repressing.

The mechanism employed to produce this result will now be described.

The numeral 12 designates the main frame of the brick machine. A firstshaft 13 is rotative in suitable hearings on the main frame. Abroad-face gear 15 is loose on the shaft. Automatically acting clutchmembers 14 co act with the gear 15 cause it to one complete revolutionwith the shaft at predetermined periodic intervals. and. then stop, andthen make another periodic revolution, and again stop, and so on; therotation of the gear being timed to accord with the forward travel ofthe clay-column and the simultaneous rearward travel of the carriage, ina manner which is well known in the art. A carriage I6 is adapted toslide on the main frame in the direction of its length. A second shaft17 is rotative in bearings 18 on the carriage. A cog gear 19 fixed onthe shaft 17 meshes with and is driven by the broadfaoe gear 15. Thediameter of the driven gear 19 is twice the diameter of the driving gear15, henceeach complete revolution of the driving gear will cause a halfrevolution of the driven gear. Arched yokes 20 are secured on anoscillative shaft 21 supported by hangers 22 on the carriage. Crankplates 23 are fixed on the shaft 17. Connecting rods 24 connect thecrank plates with yokes 20 in such manner that rotation of the crankswill produce intermittent oscillations of the yokes according to theintermittent rotation of the drive gear 15.

The clay-column 25 is formed by dies which are part of the brick machineproper and is forwarded continuously by means well known in the art,which need not be described here. Cross bars 26 connect the yokes sothat the yokes move in unison.

A series of taut cutting wires 27 connected with the cross bars 26 andsuitably spaced apart from each other cut transversely through the claycolumn at each to or fro movement of the yokes, the cuts being madealternately from the respective sides of the clay column.

In order that the cuts may be made alternately from opposite sides ofthe clay column it is necessary that the carriage be clamped on andtravel in perfect unison with the clay column while the cuts are beingmade, and that when the cut from one side is completed the carriageshall be released from the clay column to permit it to advanceindependently of the carriage and the car'- riage to be retractedindependently of the clay column, to such extent that when the carriageis again clamped on the clay column, the carriage and the clay columnwill be in such relation to each other that the next cut may be madefrom the opposite side of the clay column without any considerable wasteof clay.

The clay column slides on the stationary lower plates 23. The upperplaten 29 is parallel to the lower platen and movable verticallyrelative thereto.

The means for effecting vertical movement of the upper platen relativeto the clay column 25 and the lower platen 28 will now he described.Standards 31 are stationary on the carriage l6. Arms 32 are connectedwith the respective standard 31 by pivots 35. On each yoke 20 are twooppositely inclined cams 34 suitably spaced apart from each other andadapted to engage on rollers 33 at the upper ends of the respective arms32. At each end of the carriage is a pair of stationary vertical rods36. Cross heads 37, one at each end of the carriage, have integraltubular members 38 adapted to slideon the rods 36. Springs 39 surroundthe rods 37 and act to pull the cross heads upward. The arms 32 areconnected with the respective cross heads by pivots 51. Eachhalf-revolu: tion of the crank plates 23 will operate the connectingrods 24 to swing the yokes 20 to the right or to the left, as the casemay be. Starting with the parts in the position relative to each other,shown in Fig. 7, the first swing of the yokes will cause the wires 27 tocut from right to left through the clay bar 25, and the second orreverse swing of the yokes will'cause the same wires to cut from left toright through the clay column; and in like manner alternating right andleft cuts will be made so long as the machine continues in operation. InFig. 7 the yoke 20 is shown at the limit of its right-hand oscillation,the left hand cam 34 is under the roller 33, the cross head 37 and theupper platen connected therewith are raised to permit the clay column toslide freely under the upper platen and the springs 39 are comessed. Ifthe yokes be started to swing to the left, the first effect will be towithdraw the cam 34 from under the roller 33, and thereupon the springs39 will act to push downward the yokes 37 and the upper platen connectedtherewith, to cause the upper platen to engage the clay column so firmlythat the carriage will travel with the clay column; and the continuedswing of the yokes to the left while the carriage is traveling in unisonwith the clay column, will cause the wires to cut off a number of bricksaccording to the number of wires that are used. Immediately uponcompletion of the right to left cut, the right hand cams 34 will engagethe rollers 33 to effect the raising of the yokes 37 and the upperplaten connected therewith, and hold them in readiness for the next cut.may be made as: rapidly as is consistent with the regular continuousadvance ofthe clay column, without waiting for the clay column to travelthe full length ofthe carriage.

means are provided for sliding the carriage rearwardly simultaneouslywith forwardmovement of the clay column. The forward movement of thecarriage 1s a result of the engagement of the depressed upper platenwith the forwardly moving clay column.

Timely reverseor backward movementof the carriage is effected by a recprocable rod connected with one end ofthecarriage In order thatsuccessive cuts and actuated and timed by suitable means which are notpart of the present invention and therefore need not be described.During both the forward and the rearward travel of the carriage the gear19 slides in mesh with gear 15 and is effective to operate the yokes atjust the right'instant, according to the speed of travel of the claycolumn.

Each of the platens 28 and 29 comprises a series of units separatedfrom. each other by the slots 30. The units are all alike, so adescription of one will suffice for all. Each unit comprises ablock-like member 40, having internally screw-threaded bores 41.; abasal or attaching plate 42; bolts 43 connecting the plate 42 with themember fillet or former bars 44; screws 45 connecting the bars 44 withthe plate 42; a clearance or former plate 46, movable vertically between the bars 44; adjusting screws 47 screwing into the plate 46 andadapted to slide in the bores 41; springs 48 surrounding the adjustingscrews between the plates 42 and 46; stub screws 49. screwing into therespective bores 41; and jam'nuts 5O engaging on the screws 49. The bars44 have integral former members 53 adapted to form and compress thelongitudinal edges of the brick adjacent to the slots 30. The externalface of the intermediate plates 46 is normally in the same horizontalplane with the edges of the members 53 and occupies the space be tweenthe bars 44 so that the upper and lower surfaces of the clay column willnot be scraped or injured by the members 53 during the travel of theclay column between the platens. The lower faces of the plates 46 of theupper platen are preferably, but not necessarily, provided with intaglioconfigurations 54 adapted to produce corresponding relief configurations55 on one face of the brick. The springs 48 are calibrated to normallykeep the external faces of the plate 46 in the plane of the edges of themembers 53. but must yield, while the upper platen is being depressed inorder to permit the members 53 to be pressed into the clay column and topermit the plates 46 to form the configurations on the upper surface ofthe brick. Then the members 53 are pressed into the clay column theykeep it from wobbling or slipping and guide the cutting wires, thusassuring straight cutting of the brick; they also form smoothly pressedlongitudinal edges on the brick. The smoothly pressed edges of the greenbrick facilitate handling in taking the brick from the belt and are lesssubject to finger prints or marring than are the soft. thin edges ofordinary wire out brick.

During the downward movement of upper platen the plate 46 will bear onthe upper face of the clay column while the bars 44 are moving downward;it-is necessary however in order to form smooth the brick, that thedownward movement of the bars relative to the plate shall cease at theinstant that the plane of the under surface of the bars coincides withthe plane of the under surface of the plate. This result is attained byscrewing the stub screws 49 into the bores 41 to such depth that whenthe platen descends until the plane of the lower surfaces of the bar 44coincides with the plane of the lower surface of the plate 46 the headsof the screws 47 will stop against the inner ends of the stub screws andprevent further movement of the parts 44 and 46 relative to each other,during continued descent of the platen. When the parts have beenadjusted as described the jam nuts 50 will be screwed down to secure thestub strews 49. i

The characteristics of the brick and the operation of the machine willbe easily understood upon reference to the drawings and the foregoingdescription.

1 do not restrict my claims to the precise details of constructionherein set forth, inasmuch as it is obvious that minor details may evaried and still keep within the legitimate scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for cutting and forming side-cut brick at one operation,a platen con sisting of a plurality of units spaced apart from eachother, each unit comprising edge formers adjacent to and parallel toedges of the unit.

2. in a machine for cutting and forming sidecut brick at one operation.a platen consisting of a plurality of units spaced apart from eachother, each unit comprising edge formers adjacent and parallel to edgesof the unit; and a face former intermediate of the edge formers.

3. in an apparatus for simultaneously side-cutting brick and forming thelongi tudinal moving platen having transverse slits; taut cuttingdevices traversing the slits of the platen; and formers on the platenand adjacent anu parallel to the slits of the platen.

4. In an apparatus for simultaneously side-cutting brick, forming thelongitudinal edges of the brick and forming one face of the bricnr; thecombination of a movable platen having transverse slits; taut cuttingdevices traversing the slits of the platen; edge formers fixed on theplaten and adjacent and parallel to the slits thereof; and face formersintermediate of the edge formers.

5. In an apparatus for simultaneously cutting and forming side-cut brickthe combination of a moving platen having transverse slits; a cuttingdevice comprising taut wires traversing the slits of the platen, edgeedges thereof; the combination of a 4 formers fixed on the platenadjacent and parallel to the slits thereof, and a spring pressed formerintermediate of said edgeformers.

6. In an apparatus for cutting side-cut brick from a continuously movingclay column and forming the brick coincidently with the cutting; thecombination of a platen associated with the forwardly moving claycolumn; taut cutting wires effective to cut right and left through themoving clay column; edge-formers, one on each side of each cutting wire;and automatic means for dissociating the platen from the clay column.

7. In an apparatus for cutting side-cut brick from a continuously movingclay column and forming the brick coincidently with the cutting; thecombination of a platen associated with the moving clay column; edgeformers and face-formers on the platen; and automatic means fordissociating the platen from the clay column.

8. In an apparatus for cutting side-cut brick from a continuously movingclay column and forming the brick coincidently with the cutting; aplaten automatically associable with and automatically dissociable fromthe clay column; cutting devices adapted to cut side-cut brick from theclay column; and edge formers and face-formers conjoined with theplaten.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, the platen structurecomprisin a plurality of members separated by slits, each member havinga plurality of bores; basal plates detachably connected with therespective platen-members; a pair of fillet bars attached to each basalplate; clearance plates movable between each pair of fillet bars;

tomatic means for periodically associating the carriage with the claycolumn to travel in unison therewith; automatic means to periodicallyrelease the carriage from the clay-column and cause it to travelreversely to the direction of travel of the clay-column; yokes pivotedon the carriage and oscillative transversely relative to theclay-column; taut wires connected with the yokes and effective to cuttransversely, both right and i left, through the clay column; amovable-platen having transverse slits accommodating 'the cutting wires;means for moving the'platen to contact With the clay columnprevious toeach cutting and keep it in contact therewith during that cutting; andformerson the platen, parallel to the slits thereof, and adapted to formthe longitudinal edges of the brick during each operation of the platen.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Springfield,Illinois, this l8th day of April, A. D. 1920.

HARRY WINTER.

Witnesses W. P. IVHITNEY,

W. TROXELL.

